Peter Mathews (Dublin South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I would like to make a small contribution before we conclude proceedings. I echo what Deputies Boyd Barrett and Colreavy have said. Participation in the review group would be very helpful because the centre told its story very well. More importantly, its representatives said and described well what it would mean for a person if he or she did not have the allowance or the motor transport grant. A picture was painted of the minibuses or ambulances instead of the independence as the justified and valid reason to enable people to go to places of work, study or for social purposes, just like any other citizen. Their case was made very well.

As Deputy Colreavy has said, one must raise the matter, magnify it but keep it simple. Do not have too many snowflakes in the blizzard. Please use pictures carefully and well and approach the right people. Dr. Ambrose McLoughlin showed empathy and understanding. Then one gets the fearfulness and anxiety that bureaucrats can frighten themselves with. They are presented with a legal situation and they freeze. One can set aside or tell the legal people to organise the law to suit what is right, proper and good. That is the job at hand and I give the group every encouragement in that regard.

As a by-product, one of the aspects that has stayed with me since last week - I do not know if the committee members will also remember it - was the fit-out of the Garda car fleet using a budget of €10 million. If the Garda Síochána buys a car for €20,000 each then the budget means that the force can buy 500 cars. Will only 300 people apply for the motorised transport grant on a three year cycle?